Let's all remember that iRobot, the company behind Roomba, is now owned by Amazon.com, and not everyone likes it. [0]
[0]: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/amazon-roo...
How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
141–148 of 148 posts
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#142Reminds of me of a conversation I had with an engineer from a internet-connected thermostat company. When designing their device, they disassembled many of their competitors' thermostats. They found that some had microphones on their circuit boards. Scary stuff.
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're operating in a framework where you already think they are lying. What proof would you even deem acceptable?
‘iRobot declined to let MIT Technology Review view the consent agreements and did not make any of its paid collectors or employees available to discuss their understanding of the terms.’ The reporters tried to validate and were blocked. That’s where my suspicion lies.
If it were my company I would not let journalists anywhere near it or my employees either. All downside.
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#144Key paragraph for our friends who don’t RTFA > iRobot … confirmed that these images were captured by its Roombas in 2020. All of them came from “special development robots with hardware and software modifications that are not and never were present on iRobot consumer products for purchase,” the company said in a statement. They were given to “paid collectors and employees” who signed written agreements acknowledging…
Seems like the real story here is that iRobot can't protect the data it records from its own internal reviews and R&D process, so the people who were paranoid about "they're watching you" are actually MORE justified, because not only do we need to worry about deliberate watching, but also the company's general incompetence with data security.
Seems like the narrative's just as accurate as it was prior to reading the title.
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#145> hey were the sorts of scenes that internet-connected devices regularly capture and send back to the cloud Most of the home devices like vacuum robots really have no valid reason to connect to any cloud let alone send any pictures there. Such a robot can run all the necessary code [ran in the cloud normally] on itself. If only the consumers would not be so naive to accept the cloud bullshit for a norm.
Real data of robots getting stuck is a valid reason to improve performance and avoid common real case scenarios impossible to replicate in test cases.
It can make sense to upload volunteer's data (also let them view it before uploading), yet this is not a valid reason to make a device refuse function without the cloud.
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here's a funny bit. Roomba iOS app refuses to go past its welcome screen unless its granted access to the location info. This is unreasonable, they don't need this info for their app to function. However their devices are all but unusable without an app, so they ultimately blackmail people into giving location data to them. Meaning they don't really give a sh#t about users' privacy, so it's not that "they are watchin…
And, so, did you do the right thing and return it or did you just accept and therefore effectively indicate to Roomba by your actions that you're ok with it? I've returned several "smart" devices that required an app and an account. One example is GoVee smart blubs. As soon as they refused to work without an account I sent them back. Another is some Meross smart outlets. I retuned them for Eve Energy outlets.
The app always tries to explain that location is “required” for Bluetooth/WiFi pairing in my experience, can someone more knowledgeable confirm if this is an iOS/Android limitation or are app developers blowing smoke to get this data from users during setup/onboarding networked devices
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
There was a huge backlash to this. There was the potential for thieves to find out the layout of someone’s home and when it was unoccupied. Add cameras to that and you have a disaster waiting to happen.
Oh please - If someone wants to know the layout of my house they could just look at public property records which are published online.
Can anyone also look online to see what types of furniture you have, how often you replace it, how you have it arranged, if you have children in the house, how clean/cluttered your home is kept, how often/quickly you put things away, whether or not you are a hoarder, if you have pets, etc.
Continuously updated maps of your home and its contents over time is a lot more revealing than just a basic floorplan.
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#148Roomba is the company that planned on using their vacuum cleaners to map people's houses so they could sell that data to third parties. https://nypost.com/2017/07/25/roomba-maker-wants-to-sell-you... Considering that this is how poorly they protect the sensitive data their devices collect (even those used for development purposes) I guess it's a good thing that public backlash over their spying plans forced them to r…
There was a huge backlash to this. There was the potential for thieves to find out the layout of someone’s home and when it was unoccupied. Add cameras to that and you have a disaster waiting to happen.
[deleted]